Generally, the press-through package (hereinafter, abbreviated as a PTP) for articles such as medicines stores a variety of articles including solid medicines such as pills, tablets, and capsules and solid confectioneries one by one in a plurality of pockets provided on a base sheet made of thermoplastic resin such as polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate. The PTP is then sealed by attaching a cover film of aluminum foil, etc., to the rear surface of the base sheet. The pocket swelling on the front surface is pressed by a fingertip, whereby the article such as solid medicine within the pocket breaks through the cover film and is discharged.
This kind of medicine PTP is used to allow separation into one pocket units (one dosage unit of medicine) by being broken off by hand at vertical and horizontal parting lines provided on the base sheet. However, such accidents that the separated PTP is taken whole without being opened and then the digestive tract such as the esophagus is damaged by an edge of the base sheet and bleeding or serious complications are caused by scratching often occur. Consequently, recent medicine PTP is in a form which can be separated into two or three pocket units only at horizontal parting lines so as not to be easily swallowed accidentally in terms of dimensions. However, even when the unit of separation of the medicine PTP becomes as large as above, particularly the elderly sometimes take the whole PTP. Further, there are quite a number of cases where the PTP having been separated in order to dispense the medicines into a single dose is cut off into a one pocket unit by scissors, etc., and inadvertently swallowed.
On the other hand, this kind of PTP for articles such as medicines has an advantage that small articles can be stored in pockets and completely sealed from the outside as well as being easily opened and taken out. The conventional general-purpose PTP has a sheet configuration as a whole, and thus, when opened, both ends of the sheet are picked up and held by both hands, in which state the pocket is pressed with a thumb or thumbs. Therefore, the article having broken through the cover film and popped out often scatters, falls on the floor or the ground, gets dirty and is no longer good or gets lost and requires time and effort to find. Further, a tear or peeling of the cover film is easily caused while the PTP is carried about in a clothes pocket or a bag, etc. The article often changes in quality due to the seal breaking or comes out of the sheet pocket and is crushed.
On the other hand, a general medicine PTP is inconvenient in terms of handleability because, when the pocket is pressed with a fingertip to take out a medicine, the medicine having broken through the cover film and popped out often scatters, falls on the floor, etc., gets dirty and is no longer good or gets lost and requires time and effort to find.
Accordingly, a variety of means to prevent accidental swallowing and improve handleability in the PTP for articles such as medicines have been proposed up to this point. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a PTP configuration such that a tear string or strip body which passes portions opposed to the pockets is provided on a cover film every several pocket units divided by cut-off lines of the PTP and that the string or strip body is pulled to break the cover film and open the pockets. Patent Documents 2 and 3 propose a PTP without cut-off lines which is kept in a case composed of a blank board, wherein a pocket of the PTP is pressed with a finger while a top or bottom cover of the case is opened, whereby a medicine is taken out of an ejection portion or hole provided on the case side.